“Acutely aware of the difficult labour market and rising living costs, they are looking for a career path that makes financial sense first and foremost. Idealist factors barely come into it,” he said.

But once in the job market, grads might find things are better than they think.

Graduates going into HR, for example, envisaged a starting salary of under £19,700, but could actually earn an average of almost £26,300 – a difference of around £6,500.

“Confronted by an uncertain outlook, graduates have lowered their remuneration expectations well below what they can expect to earn in the main functions of the UK’s largest graduate employers,” added Smith.